My Thyme
- Thread starter Thyme & Me
- Start date
Thyme is 4!!!
Happy Birthday sweet girl! She is now old enough to enter some ridden tests and I reckon she's ready for her first stressage test.... Just a Walk & Trot one. Really just to get a base-line of where she is at from which (hopefully) to improve.
So I took her in the school. First bit of schooling for a while as we have been hacking/jumping (and discovering novel ways to get out of trailers.....:hot
. Part of the test involves changing the rein in trot across the diagonal with reins in 1 hand. At which point I discovered I rely too much on my hands to steer! She wibble-wobbled all the way across so we have something to work on!
Other than that, she went well, so the idea of teaching something then giving them a few days off seems to work!
It was Thyme's birthday this week and mine is next week so I have splashed out on some X-C colours - sweatshirt and cap. Dark blue with pink stars. We are a long way off that, but a girl can dream..............
Happy Birthday sweet girl! She is now old enough to enter some ridden tests and I reckon she's ready for her first stressage test.... Just a Walk & Trot one. Really just to get a base-line of where she is at from which (hopefully) to improve.
So I took her in the school. First bit of schooling for a while as we have been hacking/jumping (and discovering novel ways to get out of trailers.....:hot
. Part of the test involves changing the rein in trot across the diagonal with reins in 1 hand. At which point I discovered I rely too much on my hands to steer! She wibble-wobbled all the way across so we have something to work on!Other than that, she went well, so the idea of teaching something then giving them a few days off seems to work!
It was Thyme's birthday this week and mine is next week so I have splashed out on some X-C colours - sweatshirt and cap. Dark blue with pink stars. We are a long way off that, but a girl can dream..............
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Just had a catch up on all you've been up to, you've been suuuper busy!!!
Am mega jealous with how far you guys have come and love the ethos you have with her, I really like the idea of ignoring all the incorrect responses by being still, it's too easy sometimes to feel you need to correct with a "no" until you get the right response.
She is just stunning as well isn't she!
Am mega jealous with how far you guys have come and love the ethos you have with her, I really like the idea of ignoring all the incorrect responses by being still, it's too easy sometimes to feel you need to correct with a "no" until you get the right response.
She is just stunning as well isn't she!
Another busy week. Have a new (Ebay special) Fhoenix saddle. That's a Heather Moffet treeless one. I feel a bit odd on it, but Thyme seems more comfortable. She has always been ok to tack up, but has not seemed 100% happy when I put the saddle on, whereas nbow she seems a bit better.
Have been continuing to practice our walk/trot test which is a bit hit and miss but hope we manage an ok test on the day....
Today I decided to canter in the manege for the first time. And it was just bizarre. While she was trotting she felt as though she would break into canter anytime! She has NEVER felt like that before. And we were not at the cantering part of the schooling session yet. But I appear to have a telepathic horse :wink:
I was too nervous to ask for canter when it felt like was about to break into canter because I envisaged her taking off the the next county! But when she was nice and relaxed I asked for canter and she popped up easily first time of asking. Got the transition a few times on each rein and left it at that. Am delighted with her. Clever girlie. :wub:
Have been continuing to practice our walk/trot test which is a bit hit and miss but hope we manage an ok test on the day....
Today I decided to canter in the manege for the first time. And it was just bizarre. While she was trotting she felt as though she would break into canter anytime! She has NEVER felt like that before. And we were not at the cantering part of the schooling session yet. But I appear to have a telepathic horse :wink:
I was too nervous to ask for canter when it felt like was about to break into canter because I envisaged her taking off the the next county! But when she was nice and relaxed I asked for canter and she popped up easily first time of asking. Got the transition a few times on each rein and left it at that. Am delighted with her. Clever girlie. :wub:
It's great when it almost seems as though they can read our minds, Shadow does that a lot :smile:
Birthday Festivities and Pic Fest!!!
OH and I took a day off to celebrate being 39 (+3. :wink and what better way to spend it that with Thyme.
So here she is: Dressage Test first, then JUMPING...
DSC02206 by Team KP Nut, on Flickr
DSC02204 by Team KP Nut, on Flickr
DSC02214 by Team KP Nut, on Flickr
DSC02220 by Team KP Nut, on Flickr
DSC02224 by Team KP Nut, on Flickr
And sorry, this is a bit long, but I want the diary to be a complete record....
Lovely day:cloud9::cloud9:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yzdgaa-ch18&feature=plcp
OH and I took a day off to celebrate being 39 (+3. :wink
and what better way to spend it that with Thyme.So here she is: Dressage Test first, then JUMPING...
DSC02206 by Team KP Nut, on Flickr
DSC02204 by Team KP Nut, on Flickr
DSC02214 by Team KP Nut, on Flickr
DSC02220 by Team KP Nut, on Flickr
DSC02224 by Team KP Nut, on Flickr
And sorry, this is a bit long, but I want the diary to be a complete record....
Lovely day:cloud9::cloud9:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yzdgaa-ch18&feature=plcp
Happy birthday :dance:
Looks like you had a wonderful day, and all the photos are nice but that last one - lovely, needs to be framed methinks!
(Had a pretty good day myself - hack in the sunshine, and got to the yard to find out a foal had been born this morning. His sire had died a couple of months back so they were all hoping for a boy and that's what they got. After the vet came to help mummy with afterbirth, mare and foal were taken out to the field to get some sunshine. Such a beautiful sight it made me cry)
Looks like you had a wonderful day, and all the photos are nice but that last one - lovely, needs to be framed methinks!
(Had a pretty good day myself - hack in the sunshine, and got to the yard to find out a foal had been born this morning. His sire had died a couple of months back so they were all hoping for a boy and that's what they got. After the vet came to help mummy with afterbirth, mare and foal were taken out to the field to get some sunshine. Such a beautiful sight it made me cry)
It's so nice that I trust her enough to let go of the reins, kick my feet out of the stirrups and give her a big hug in a large grassy field! It only occurred to me afterwards that I couldn;t do that with Charlie. He would have been off!! :running::running:
She really makes me feel safe, even though she is so young.
Long overdue update.....
My birthday was wonderful. Spent the day with my lovely girl. Jumping, chilling, grooming.
Then OH & I had That Talk. I had horses when OH & I got together. They came with the package. When the babies came along, they just did what I did - ie live at the stables! And they got their first ponies at aged 3 :mstickle: I never really questioned the fact that I would always have horses. But That Talk opened my eyes to the obvious fact that the kids are older now and have developed minds, interests and hobbies of their own! They aren't genuinely interested in horses. They really never have been. They have liked the idea of having a pony and they have enjoyed things like shows and picnic rides. But the day in day out getting smelly, wet & cold bits. Naaaah!!
The day after That Talk I stopped asking them to come to the yard with me to see if they would start missing it and ask to come themselves. And they never did. Not once. Whereas they throw a fit if we go anywhere on a Saturday morning and they have to miss gymnastics!
So I made the decision that horse ownership was just not compatible with 3 non horsey children and a non horsey OH. Too expensive. MUCH too time consuming. Indeed ALL consuming. Tara went back to her owner and Thyme went up for sale :frown:
I ignored this diary as I just couldn't face updating. I doubted I would ever again read the stuff I wrote about our very short 'journey'.
Only she didn't sell! Not only did she not sell, but I had zero viewings. None. No phone calls either! Just one time wasting text early on for a weekend viewing that never happened. Was fate intervening????
Before she went up for sale I had already arranged for her to go to Beaver Hall for holiday livery over the summer while we were away in Dorset. So I kept that arrangement. When I dropped her off, the yard said they would do viewings while I was away. Of course I wouldn't sell until I had met and vetted the potential owners. But I thought that when I dropped her off, there would be viewings/vettings lined up for when I got back and she would go to her new home from there. But she didn't and instead, after 4 weeks there, I took her home.
She had 3 weeks schooling during her month there and I think she made lots of progress:
Halt - Walk To Trot:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vu0LASmELUk&feature=plcp
Trot - canter right rein:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Xs8_KA_dnU&feature=plcp
Canter Left Rein:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-xgBff6Ywc&feature=plcp
And after getting her home we went JUMPING!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfxuby2M7bI&feature=youtu.be
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRlT31_NDF8&feature=channel&list=UL
So that's were we are. I can't sell her. Which suits me as I don't really want to! And she is going better than ever. :angel:
But nothing else has changed and my kids have loved having mum back....
So I have decided to go for full livery at Beaver Hall. There is no way I can afford it. It's 4 times the price of the other yard. BUT at least the family are not impacted. And our journey is not quite over yet :skip:
Here she is in her new surroundings. She seems to have coped with the change :wink:
DSC02661 by Team KP Nut, on Flickr
My birthday was wonderful. Spent the day with my lovely girl. Jumping, chilling, grooming.
Then OH & I had That Talk. I had horses when OH & I got together. They came with the package. When the babies came along, they just did what I did - ie live at the stables! And they got their first ponies at aged 3 :mstickle: I never really questioned the fact that I would always have horses. But That Talk opened my eyes to the obvious fact that the kids are older now and have developed minds, interests and hobbies of their own! They aren't genuinely interested in horses. They really never have been. They have liked the idea of having a pony and they have enjoyed things like shows and picnic rides. But the day in day out getting smelly, wet & cold bits. Naaaah!!
The day after That Talk I stopped asking them to come to the yard with me to see if they would start missing it and ask to come themselves. And they never did. Not once. Whereas they throw a fit if we go anywhere on a Saturday morning and they have to miss gymnastics!
So I made the decision that horse ownership was just not compatible with 3 non horsey children and a non horsey OH. Too expensive. MUCH too time consuming. Indeed ALL consuming. Tara went back to her owner and Thyme went up for sale :frown:
I ignored this diary as I just couldn't face updating. I doubted I would ever again read the stuff I wrote about our very short 'journey'.
Only she didn't sell! Not only did she not sell, but I had zero viewings. None. No phone calls either! Just one time wasting text early on for a weekend viewing that never happened. Was fate intervening????
Before she went up for sale I had already arranged for her to go to Beaver Hall for holiday livery over the summer while we were away in Dorset. So I kept that arrangement. When I dropped her off, the yard said they would do viewings while I was away. Of course I wouldn't sell until I had met and vetted the potential owners. But I thought that when I dropped her off, there would be viewings/vettings lined up for when I got back and she would go to her new home from there. But she didn't and instead, after 4 weeks there, I took her home.
She had 3 weeks schooling during her month there and I think she made lots of progress:
Halt - Walk To Trot:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vu0LASmELUk&feature=plcp
Trot - canter right rein:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Xs8_KA_dnU&feature=plcp
Canter Left Rein:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-xgBff6Ywc&feature=plcp
And after getting her home we went JUMPING!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfxuby2M7bI&feature=youtu.be
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRlT31_NDF8&feature=channel&list=UL
So that's were we are. I can't sell her. Which suits me as I don't really want to! And she is going better than ever. :angel:
But nothing else has changed and my kids have loved having mum back....
So I have decided to go for full livery at Beaver Hall. There is no way I can afford it. It's 4 times the price of the other yard. BUT at least the family are not impacted. And our journey is not quite over yet :skip:
Here she is in her new surroundings. She seems to have coped with the change :wink:
DSC02661 by Team KP Nut, on Flickr
ooooo she loves jumping!
i notice in the schooling videos she's not being ridden in your treeless, how come?
i notice in the schooling videos she's not being ridden in your treeless, how come?
Trainer didn't like riding on it. Said it pushed his legs forward. And luckily his own saddle fitted her fine.
Not sure at the moment. I work 4 days a week (school hours only) so I can go up on my day off and one weekend day. Maybe I can make it one evening a week, once OH is home from work. But 3 times max I think. It's not affordable long-term. I am using savings to pay for it and they will run out pretty quickly. But something may turn up. You never know. Sharer? Lottery??:wink:
Well the universe was kind to me in that from the day she left it rained solidly for a week. And I mean RAIN. Horizontal, driving, drenching rain. I can't tell you the number of times I found myself stressing about Thyme only to remember she was not my responsibility anymore! The kids also helped unintentionally, by saying "phew thank goodness we don't have to go up to the yard" every day when I picked them up from school. The prospect of dragging 3 cold unwilling kids up there is not attractive and I speak from experience. And I have been ill with a miserable cold. Again, doing cold, wet jobs in the pouring rain when unwell is not fun. So all in all, it has been a relief to be able to stay indoors and chill out with the kids....
BUT I am better, the weather is better and she is still gone. I miss her. I miss riding. I miss that part of my life. I'm already wondering how old the kids have to be before they won;t need me...... But then I think that it's not just a horse I want, it's THAT horse. She really was (is) very special. Much as I loved Charlie, I never felt connected to him the way I did to Thyme.
BUT I am better, the weather is better and she is still gone. I miss her. I miss riding. I miss that part of my life. I'm already wondering how old the kids have to be before they won;t need me...... But then I think that it's not just a horse I want, it's THAT horse. She really was (is) very special. Much as I loved Charlie, I never felt connected to him the way I did to Thyme.
Have you had any feedback from the new owners about how she has settled in? I hope u mentioned you would like to buy her back if they ever sell her (in the future!)
newrider.com